A Bad Penny
by CarlaPeterLove
Summary: "A bad penny always turns up." A scene I think all of us Carter fans could have done with during last nights episode of Corrie. (24.10.16)


_**This is because I can't stand the way Carla is never mentioned, especially when two characters who are significant to her, interact with each other and pretend as if she doesn't exist.**_

 _ **So... Yeah this is just a random scenario I've dreamt up (There will probably be a few more of these soon with the way Corrie is carrying on at the moment.)**_

 _ **It takes place after last night's episode (24.10.16)**_

 _ **Enjoy & Review**_

 _ **:)**_

* * *

Three forty am.

Peter Barlow was lying on the sofa in the back room on The Rover's Return pub and even though it was the early hours of the morning, he couldn't have been more wide awake if he tried.

Sleeping only a few feet or so away from a pretty much unlimited supply of alcohol would make any alcoholic feel slightly nervous but this wasn't the reason why Peter was still awake.

He had been sober for years now, Two years, One Month and twenty five days in fact and amongst everything that was currently going on in his life, Peter really did feel as if he really had his alcoholism in control.

The rest of his life however, well Peter couldn't quite say he had even a little bit of that in control.

He was still awake at this ridiculous time because he had been spending countless hours worrying about his Dad who was in hospital after suffering from a stroke.

After being banned from the hospital by his sister Tracy, Peter had to make his visits in secret and since he had arrived at the hospital at seven twenty five, Peter only got thirty five minutes with his Dad before visiting time was up.

It made Peter feel utterly useless and like a bad son to have to leave the hospital after such a short amount of time, he knew that the nurse who had seen him arrive probably felt as if he didn't care and the thought of people thinking that way really pained Peter because no matter what went on between them both, his Dad was his rock.

Life didn't get much better for Peter after he returned to the pub.

He was given a frosty look from Michelle for most of the evening, even though she had seemed to agree that he could stay in the end and as for Liz McDonald? Well she rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow every time Peter spoke and even when he didn't speak? Peter could feel that he was being treated to the famous Liz McDonald glare.

Despite Steve being so welcome, Peter knew he really wasn't wanted in the pub and he tried his very best to keep himself to himself and not annoy Michelle and Liz anymore than he had to.

Michelle and Steve had ventured upstairs at around midnight, whilst Liz and Amy had been gone for a long time by that point, but now at almost four am, as Peter lay on the sofa in the living room, he was sure that someone was awake.

He could hear the sound of someone pacing back and forth upstairs and each time the floorboards above him creaked, Peter tried to work out just who it was that was awake.

It didn't take him too long to find out… after getting up and deciding to switch on the kettle to make himself a cup of tea, Peter heard the sound of someone trying very hard to tip toe down the stairs.

Then there was a long silence and Peter wondered if whoever it was in the hallway was scared to wake him up. This is why he cleared his throat in an over the top fashion to make sure whoever it was, knew that he was awake and sure enough, a tired Michelle appeared in the doorway.

Wearing a pair of light blue Pyjamas and a matching pair of slippers, Michelle raised an eyebrow at Peter for about the fiftieth time that that day.

"Alright?" He asked, stood in the kitchen with a stripy mug in his hand. He felt slightly foolish and embarrassed for being caught just helping himself like this and wondered if Michelle would say something but instead she just sighed and said,

"Not really no… Can't sleep."

"Yeah, me neither." Peter nodded as Michelle folded her arms and walked into the living room properly. "D'ya want a brew?" He offered, trying to be helpful.

"Yeah, go on then." Michelle sighed, thinking it slightly cheeky of Peter to just start helping himself to her tea bags but not saying anything because deep down she actually didn't mind, he was one of Steve's oldest friends after all.

Michelle walked over to the table and sat on a chair as Peter quietly made them both a cup of tea, after having to break the silence and ask Michelle how she liked it, Peter eventually brought her over a steaming cup of strong tea and said,

"Ere you are."

"Thanks…" Michelle said plainly, although she gave Peter half a tired smile and sighed as he sat down on the chair opposite with his own cup in his hand.

"So what's kept you awake then?" Peter asked, lifting his cup to his lips to take a sip of his drink.

"Nothing much." Michelle said, Peter let out a tiny little laugh and nodded at Michelle in an amused fashion before saying,

"It's okay, I get it. Why would you tell me anyway right?"

Michelle gave Peter another raised eyebrow but she also looked slightly amused too, she watched Peter take a sip of tea before she said,

"Honestly Peter... I'm fine, I've just been finding it hard to sleep recently that's all."

"Oh, probably cause of the baby right?" Peter responded casually, not knowing that Michelle would then frown and say,

"So he told ya then? Course he did, I don't know why we bothered keeping it a secret for so long."

"Oh, was I not supposed to know?" Peter asked, biting his lip because he didn't want to get his old friend in trouble, especially since he had been so kind and had let him stay. "I don't think Steve meant to say anything..." Peter said trying his hardest to stick up for him, "I reckon's he's just excited that's all."

"It's not that he's told you that gets me..." Michelle said shaking her head at a guilty looking Peter, "It's just, the plan was not to tell anyone at first, y'know just incase but in the space of a day that plan has gone right out of the window, Liz told Amy earlier on n me n her Dad ave been spending weeks keeping it from her."

"Well, don't worry I won't say anything." Peter said, tapping one side of his nose twice and reassuringly nodding at Michelle. "Congrats by the way."

"Thanks." She replied, putting her hands around her tea cup and holding on to it to keep warm. "Although I'm sure the news will spread like wild fire now Amy knows, I mean she's a good kid but she's bound to tell someone at school or something."

"Who else knows?" Peter asked, swallowing some more tea after his question.

"Erm, well it were just Liz in the beginning, Leanne knows because I thought we could support each other seeing as she's pregnant and the only other person I told was Car…" Michelle trailed off then, watching Peter intently to see his reaction.

The first few letters of her name were enough to make Peter's eyes suddenly widen and to make him feel his heart skip a beat.

"Carla." He said softly, his widened eyes showing Michelle that he wasn't as confident to talk about his ex wife as he was acting.

"Yeah…" Michelle said with a nod.

"What was she like when you told her?" Peter asked, staring at Michelle as if she suddenly had all the answers to questions that Peter didn't even know he had.

"She were shocked but happy… really happy." Michelle explained, She stared down at her cup of tea for a moment in silence before quietly saying, "It's a shame cause she were so good the last time I were pregnant, She didn't treat me as if I were some poor invalid who needed resting all the time and who were worried non stop, she just stayed me best mate the whole way through." Michelle smiled to herself as she reminisced about her first pregnancy and then said, "She was always joking around and telling people that I was just fat not pregnant."

Peter couldn't help but laugh at loud at this comment and then Michelle did too because it really did lead to some hilarious situations.

"She swore me having a baby wouldn't change our relationship one little bit n it didn't." Michelle said reminiscently, "We still did everything just like before, One time when I was like seven months she even took me clubbing…" Peter let out another little chuckle as Michelle continued with her story, eventually though, Michelle's smile faded, She sighed and said a very wistful, "I wish she were ere... I miss her like mad."

"Yeah…" Peter nodded slowly, looking down at his own mug this time as he sadly said, "You're not the only one."

A part of Michelle wanted to raise an eyebrow at Peter again and tell him that the reason Carla wasn't around anymore was partly down to him but instead she chose a different response, one where she looked at Peter square in the eye and said,

"She told me y'know..."

Peter waited for a moment, he didn't say anything but Michelle could tell that this new and rather unexpected subject meant a lot to him.

"Did she?" Peter eventually said, not at all surprised that Carla had told Michelle but surprised to hear Michelle speaking about it all the same. "When did she tell you?"

"Earlier on actually… after Steve told me he'd offered you a place to stay n I'd left ere in a right state. I saw my phone ringing and it was Carla…" Michelle explained, Peter nodded slowly and curiously as Michelle continued, "She could tell I were in a right mood and when I told her that Steve said you could stay, she told me then."

"So you didn't know before?" Peter said, surprised.

"Nope, I don't blame her for not telling me though… I mean had I knew about it before hand I would have definitely told her that it were a terrible idea." Michelle said.

"What exactly did she tell you?" Peter asked, taking a sip of tea as Michelle actually let one of her eyebrows raise this time, she couldn't help but smirk at Peter and shake her head at him. "What?" He said with a light chuckle.

"Nothing…" Michelle said with a sigh.

"Well go on then, what did Carla tell ya?" Peter replied.

"That you got in contact with her…" Michelle began. "After what happened with Nick…" Peter thought about that first message he had sent to Carla, the one he stared at all day before eventually hitting that send button...

 _"Carla. Si's just told me about what happened… at the wedding, He said that you've moved to Devon? Alone._

 _I don't really know what to say other than… well I'm here for you… if you want to be._

 _How are you doing? I realise that is a completely stupid question but I can't help but ask… I know I never acted like it but I really, deeply care for you & I just hope that you're doing okay._

 _I won't lie, the image of you living in a cottage in Devon is one I can't quite conjure up, What's it like there?_

 _I wouldn't blame you for ignoring this message, hey if I were you I'd probably just delete it straight away but just in case… just in case you do need someone to talk to… Someone who understands… someone who understands you…_

 _There's me… always. X_

 _Oh, It's Peter by the way."_

Peter had added that last bit just in case Carla had deleted his number or something but he didn't hold his breath for a reply because he wasn't sure he'd ever get one.

"She told me that she tried not to reply back at first…" Michelle said, watching Peter who had smiled at little and who eventually said,

"She did though..." Peter nodded, almost as if he still couldn't believe that he received that surprising message from Carla that day, even though it was a few months back by now.

He thought about how down he had been feeling that day when he got Carla's reply...

 _"Hi Peter._

 _Thanks for your message the other day. I know I've waited a few days but I hope it's still okay for me to reply._

 _I'm… well I'm managing. That is all though. It's all me own fault so don't feel sorry for me, please. I really don't deserve it._

 _Devon is… well it's not Weatherfield that's for sure, although I'm not too sure if that's a good thing or not just yet._

 _How's Portsmouth treating you? You still working for that boat company?"_

That simple text message was like a beacon of light in Peter's life and still to this day, he couldn't believe Carla had actually replied to him.

"She told me." Michelle nodded again, knowing that Carla had replied to Peter in the end. "She also told me that a few more text messages soon turned into some phone calls and then after the phone calls… came the actual visit."

Yes, After a few late night phone calls, Peter had ended up driving to Devon from Portsmouth and visiting Carla one day in August.

"I know you probably think I ave no right..." Peter said to Michelle, "I mean after the way I treated her, why should Carla even give me the time of day right? but she did give me the time of day and Michelle I'm so glad she did."

"Yeah, I bet." Michelle said slightly in a sarcastic way and still looking at Peter with her eyebrow raised.

"It's not like that." Peter said adamantly, knowing exactly what Michelle was thinking and hating the mere thought of it. "Not at all Michelle, It was special..."

Michelle's face softened when she saw how offended Peter looked, she shook her head apologetically at him and then said,

"I know… and I'm sorry... Carla did actually say how… _touching_ you're little trip to Devon was." Peter grinned slightly at Michelle's choice of words and simply had to ask her,

"Touching? Is that what Carla said?"

"Yes those were her exact words." Michelle nodded, picking up her mug of tea and taking a sip.

She watched Peter's rather moved expression for a moment and decided that given everything that was going on with his Dad, Peter could do with a little more encouragement and support, especially after being chucked out by his sister.

"When I told Carla you were ere n how annoyed I was about it…" Michelle said as she put her cup down. "She said that I shouldn't be so angry to see you staying ere… She said you had both talked a lot whilst you went to see her and that she found talking to you really comforting, She said you really helped her move on... Carla also said that somehow you've both decided to become friends... and that she thinks it's really good that you've decided to come home in the end."

"Yeah… despite what me Dad n everyone else thinks, I'm not just ere because I ave nowhere else to go." Peter said sighing, "I had been planning on coming back before Christmas, I did tell Carla that… it just so happens that a lot of crazy stuff happened in Portsmouth that's brought me back sooner than I thought."

"Any of that crazy stuff involve a women by any chance?" Michelle asked, looking at the rather nasty bruise Peter had above his eyebrow and wondering if he'd been up to his old tricks.

"No it doesn't actually." Peter said, not at all surprised that this was the next question that came out of Michelle's mouth.

"What then?" Michelle asked with her head on one side, she watched Peter shuffle uncomfortably on his chair for a moment and then said, "Y'know what, I don't wanna know Peter, especially if it means I might end up as an accomplice to something illegal you've got going on."

"Ahh ha ha ha…" Peter said dryly, Michelle gave him a grin which showed Peter she was joking as he said, "There is nothing of the sort going on, it's all just to do with me old job that's all. Y'know what they say, A bad penny always comes back." Peter wasn't smiling anymore by this point, he was looking slightly down as he then said, "But I promise I'll be out of your hair soon Michelle."

"Yeah yeah." She said with half a smile, "So ya said earlier."

She and Peter both drank their cups of tea rather companionably and as Peter almost finished his drink, there was something else he wanted to know.

"What?" Michelle asked, reading Peter's rather curious expression.

"Did… Carla tell you that when I went to stay... we ended up… well that I… stayed the night?"

"She sure did." Michelle nodded, she put her mug down and onto the table as Peter looked even more curious than before, she could tell he was desperate for more information but Michelle decided that Peter didn't need to know too about their conversation much and just said, "Let's just say Carla told me _everything_ about your little trip to Devon eh Peter."

"Right." Peter nodded, but not in a smug way more in a regretful one, knowing that Michelle would have had a very strong opinion about Carla going back to that "place" with him, even if it was just for one passionate night.

"Can I ask ya something Peter?" Michelle then asked and she was the one looking curious now.

"You tell me." Peter responded trying to crack a joke.

"How on earth did ya leave her again?" Michelle asked, "I mean, as far as I can make out, you're still crazy about her n well, Don't tell her I told ya this but she obviously feels the same way about you, so how come's you're ere then?"

"Because…" Peter said softly, "Now's not the time for us… As much as I'd like it to be… me n Carla are so not in the right place to be anywhere near together again, I'm dealing with a _lot_ stress right now n Carla... Well she's still hurting over Nick, It would naive n foolish for either of us to think that we could pick up anywhere near where we left off... which is why we decided to be friends."

"Well I think that's very mature of you both... Especially you Peter." Michelle nodded understandingly at Peter and smiled as he then cracked his own smile and said,

"Don't get me wrong… I still reckon me n Carla are perfect for each other…"

"Just not right now eh?" Michelle replied.

"Yeah." Peter chuckled, "One day... though... I hope."

"You know what…" Michelle paused, leaving Peter waiting for a moment before she said, "Me too." She then got up off the chair she had been sat on for a while now and yawned quietly before saying, "I think I'm gonna head back up stairs before Steve thinks I've been kidnapped." Peter nodded at her gratefully as she tucked in her chair and said, "Thanks for the tea Peter."

"I should be thanking you." Peter said shaking his head at Michelle. "I hope you get some sleep."

"Yeah you too." Michelle said as she went to leave the room, she could have just carried on walking, right out of the room and up to bed but instead, Michelle found herself stopping at the door, turning around to face Peter and calling his name.

"Yeah." He said, turning back as he had been on his way to the kitchen with the empty mugs.

Michelle gave Peter a friendly grin as she said,

"You're not a bad penny." And with that, she disappeared out of the living room and upstairs to bed.


End file.
